Based on the aggregated intelligence of 170,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, online public school operator K12 (NYSE: LRN) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at K12's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

K12 facts

Headquarters (Founded)

Herndon, Va. (2000)

Market Cap

$1.2 billion

Industry

Education services

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$482.5 million

Management

Founder/CEO Ronald Packard

CFO Harry Hawks

Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years)

11.4%

Cash/Debt

$40.1 million / $25.0 million

Competitors

Apollo Group (Nasdaq: APOL)

DeVry (NYSE: DV)

Strayer Education (Nasdaq: STRA)

Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 95% of the 206 members who have rated K12 believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include Blackarrow1969 and djnitrogen.

Late last month, Blackarrow1969 helped school Fools on the opportunity:

I earned a Master's degree online a couple of years ago. I see plenty of potential for this at the K-12 level, as something to help with home schooling. American public schools are awful, and online learning may help those who wish to escape it. Consider this a long-term investment.

Over the next five years, in fact, K12 is expected to grow its bottom line at a brisk rate of 27% annually. That's much faster than listed competitors like Apollo (7%), DeVry (12%), and Strayer (9%).

CAPS member djnitrogen elaborates on the K12 bull case:

Clear leader in the field.
High growth.
Only has scratched the surface of a very very large market.
Great management.
Few analysts covering it.
Scalable Internet based business model.
Local governments are in financial trouble and this is a more cost effective manner to deliver education for K-12 students. This will bode well for K12.

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